Monday 13th December 16.30 for 17.00. Royal Statistical Society,
12 Errol Street, London, EC1Y 8LX (for a map and directions see
http://www.rss.org.uk/about/direction.html ). Attendance at the meeting,
starting with tea/coffee at 4.30 pm, is free and open to all.
PRODUCTIVITY MEASUREMENT AND PART-TIME WORK
Wendy Olsen, Lecturer in Socio-Economic Research, University of Manchester
In measuring productivity, per-hour measures of gross value added are used.
This talk covers the meaning of productivity, its measurement under the GVA
system, and current UK performance in per-hour and per-job productivity.
There is a need for revised statistical provision over time. It is a high
priority to have indicators that adequately reflect the role of part-time
work.
Discussant: Rhys Herbert, Office for National Statistics
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[Wendy Olsen has added some detail to this summary:
The UK government has made a commitment to gender mainstreaming, and it
recognises the improvements such an approach can bring to policy-making. On
behalf of the Women's Budget Group (WBG), I became involved in the debate
over the statistical databases underlying estimates of productivity. The
WBG has a particular interest in the UK's statistical provision. The
international systems of national accounts have changed, making Gross Value
Added much more central to the calculation of national output for each year.
Current ONS statistics in the area of GVA are available at national level up
to 2001 and at regional level up to 2000. Forecasts are being used
for the more recent years and these are not data but projections. By
contrast ONS keeps the national accounts for recent quarters and years
easily accessible. Per-hour measures of GVA, not just per-job measures, are
needed from central (ONS) sources. The talk will concentrate on three
dimensions of the problem. 1) The meaning of productivity, and its
measurement, under the GVA system. 2) the data currently available,
informing listeners of the UK vs. other countries' performance in per-hour
and per-job productivity. 3) The need for revised statistical provision at
Region and Sector level over time.]
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